Blessed Lady

This is the cruising blog of the sailing yacht Mabrouka. The Favorites in the side bar allow those with discriminating taste to filter for just the stuff you want to read. Thanks for visiting, Roy.

13 September 2015
21 August 2015
21 August 2015
20 June 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
15 June 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
15 June 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
15 June 2015 | Mazatlan Marina, Mazatlan Mexico
13 April 2015 | Off Club Nautico, Mazatlan Commercial Harbor, Mazatlan, MX
15 February 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
13 February 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
25 January 2015
06 January 2015 | Mazatlan, MX
24 December 2014 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
24 December 2014 | Mazatlan, MX
22 December 2014
21 December 2014
18 December 2014 | Playa Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, MX
18 December 2014 | Mazatlan, MX
15 December 2014 | Ensenada des los Muertos, Mexico

Staging Southward from Mazatlan

15 February 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
Roy
Moonset over Marina Mazatlan

I don't know why the sky insisted on grumbling and weeping over Marina Mazatlan when it was poor me that had to shelter below to the snare drum sound of rain drops pelting the canvas dodger. I'd planned to take Friday morning for the half-hour walk to Walmart to provision the boat for a Monday departure, but I found the lightning, thunder, and heavy rain to be discouraging of such chores. Rumor had it that this would be the agenda for the weekend as well.

I was getting antsy to move on, though, and had been inching toward another attempt at departure southward to Puerto Vallarta. There was little to keep me here except the friends I'd made on the dock and being cooped up in a marina is not my idea of the cruising life. At the same time, I'd built up stationary momentum and it might have taken a motivational tape to get me started. Rain wasn't helping in that regard.

The decks were done and I was completely satisfied with them. Besides being just a really nice guy, Beto and his crew were diligent workers and knocked out the job in four weeks rather than the predicted six. In the meantime I'd completed quite a bit of canvas work, making new covers to match the burgundy ones that I'd had delivered with the new sails. I replaced everything that was too bedraggled to survive much longer, but there remain a few blue odds and ends as leftovers that will last until I rebuild momentum for more stitchery. Anti-bug measures were in place, too, with a concoction of stainless steel rings to spring in and hold mosquito screen in the portholes and canvas constructions to discourage them from entering through hatches and the main companionway.

With the autopilot back in commission (stand by for more disheartening news on that front), there was nothing to hold me back from departure other than a provisioning run, saying goodbye to so many new friends, and paying my marina bill. If it would only stop raining, I'd get on with it.
Comments
Vessel Name: Mabrouka
Vessel Make/Model: CT-41
Hailing Port: Seattle, WA
Crew: Roy Neyman
About:
Mabrouka and I have been partners in crime since October 1998, hanging about in West Coast waters, first in San Diego, then in Seattle. All of that time we've lived together aboard. [...]
Extra:
I've called this blog "Blessed Lady" because that's my preferred translation from Arabic for "Mabrouka". She's a 1980 CT-41, one of several clones of the original Bill Garden design Mariner ketches. At 50 feet from the tip of her mizzen boom to the tip of her bow sprit, she's 16 tons of [...]
Mabrouka's Photos - Main
Photos 1 to 10 of 10
1
On the streets of Freemont
Street art edited.
Elvis the stuffed cat is a memento of my daughters at the age of about 5.  The peace sign was a gift from good friend, Karyn Borcich.  Thanks to both!
This is Swan as I knew him, though in a more rugged environment than we ever shared.  We usually met at the coffee shop or at Voula
This is of Swan as I would also like to have known him, ...cigarettes, cameras and wine.
This is Steve hosting our Elliott Bay Design Group company picnic at his vacation home in Darington.
I never went fishing with Steve, although he let me try out his fly casting rig in the river by his house during one of the company picnics he hosted.  I
The winter slip on Lake Union
Temporary raft up with Molly Bella near my old slip at Stimson Marina
 
1
This album shares photos from mainland and Baja Mexico.
1 Photo | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 1 March 2015
The beginning of the South Pacific cruise, heading to San Diego and Mexico
1 Photo | 6 Sub-Albums
Created 15 August 2014
Killing time with local sailing and projects before heading south with the Coho Ho Ho cruiser's rally
56 Photos
Created 29 June 2014
Kathy and Karyn (with a "Y") used me as an excuse for a party. I was just fine with that!
25 Photos
Created 31 May 2014
On Lake Union where Mabrouka and I spent the winter
20 Photos
Created 31 May 2014
Shakedown cruise to Port Townsend
7 Photos
Created 25 May 2014
Gunkholing in the Seattle area, with me and Mabrouka getting our sea legs back under us.
50 Photos | 28 Sub-Albums
Created 14 April 2013
Custom made sailing skiff hand-built by NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, WA
18 Photos
Created 21 March 2013
Pre-retirement cruising pics
27 Photos
Created 21 March 2013
Photos accompanying Projects blogs.
43 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 12 March 2013